Sanctuary Broken
by Pen Alchemist
Summary: Always I have believed that only God could work miracles, but when I am kidnapped by a band of rogue military alchemists, I find that the heart as well can work miracles. EdwardxYou . previously called Fated when Forbidden
1. Fullmetal Punk

Wiping my forehead free of the sweat that had already begun to drench my dress even at midmorning, I shielded my eyes to look up at the shadowed the execution plank that stood above all of Central City by several stories. The military had succeeded in capturing an alchemist, God's destroyers, and the entire town bustled with the excitement of blood. I myself was just passing, having no interest in watching a man die at the hands of another. It was senseless, even if it was in the name of God.

But that didn't stop me from catching a glimpse of the damned man through the tall spectators (I was unusually short for my age) as he passed by. He was of normal height and dressed in normal clothes and glasses shielded his eyes from the burning sun that baked the rest of the bloodthirsty crowd. He was bowing his head.

"Praying to God? The bastard!" these words were rushed through the multitude of people also struggling to get a better look, forcing me to crouch down and weave my way towards the prisoner through there leagues.

He was passing as I made it to the military's barricaded path, and maybe it was because I was below him that I saw something no one else could or would not see. He was smiling. It wasn't a madman smile, or a bitter one. No. More like one that knew something everyone else didn't…

What happened next happened so fast that years from now people would still wonder the magic behind it. But it wasn't magic, just science, as I myself would soon find out.

First the man's eyes met mine and I stiffened, unsure to insult him or smile at him, but he winked nevertheless, and collapsed… and the earth swallowed him. Angered and confused by the man's escape and death before they had seen it, the throng of people over powered the military guards and charged the scene.

No one noticed me, the unusually tiny daughter of General Soldato, being kidnapped by a stranger, nor did they see us get swallowed by the earth as well…

**xXx**

_The author speaks…_

_Later you would find out that several carefully placed alchemists around the square, who knew exactly what time to act from a subtle signal, had manipulated the earth to empty out then fill back up. The earth would give way to already dug tunnels that began far below any digging ability and lead to the edge of the forest. In another fifty years or so, these tunnels would be found and be claimed to be a burial ritual ground were Indians buried their chiefs._

**xXx**

I awoke with my head and heart pounding, threatening to break their bone barriers. Unknown voices came off from only meters away, as well as a faint light through the dark collage of plants and leaves. Taking in my surroundings I resolved I was in the forest bordering Central City to its north, and doing a quick medical check, I only found that a headache was the closest thing to an injury I had.

I was lying on a wooden mat with a blanket draped over my bony, shivering frame. Though it was summer, the nights were unbearably cold.

Unable run away in a direction at random, I was forced to think up a plan of action, when a dark figure clunked into my little tent of leaves. In the dim lighting, I saw the outline of a fierce looking body of armor.

"Good, you are awake," the voice of a child reached my ears, "Follow me, please."

Unable to comprehend anything besides the childlike plea, I followed, having no intention of disobeying. Outlining the dark figure, I had no doubt he could snap my limbs like twigs.

Gaining a dignified face, I gathered as much pride as I could, trying not to shake with fear or the bitter cold. The forest was silent apart from the clinking sound the stranger made in front of me.

We entered a cave with better lighting and welcoming warmth, however my small frame did not stop shivering as every eye of a pack of men and a few women turned toward me. My own guide dressed in an entire suit of armor, they were dressed just as strange, in blue coats of the military that were altered in different ways. The man closest to me away from the fire wore his with the collar cut off and several medals graced bellow the front pocket. _'Colonel?'_ I thought quizzically, recognizing the ranking patches on the sleeves.

The woman next to him wore the same kind of fashion of a coat without the arms and cut it short at the waist, a tattoo on her neck resembling a hawk's eye.

It was these two that ruled over the pack of bandits, and I shivered when their equally judging eyes frisked my body. Nodding to my guard, they seemed to say continue, and the man in armor lead me deeper into the cave, the others turning to dark and threatening shadows.

After adjusting my eyes to the dimmer light, I noticed a shadowed figure lying next to the cave wall and a small moan escaped the figure that I recognized as a man. He was injured!

Forgetting the bandits dressed as rogue military soldiers, I was quickly by the one in the sickbed's side, fumbling in my pockets for herbs. (Luckily they were still there.) My medical mind now focused, I did the regular check up and found his shoulder had a deep cut, close to the bone that had been infected. A fever had set in and was making his entire body hotter than flame; his breathing was ragged. Placing a poultice already made for scrapes on his wound, I also soaked a rag and dabbed his head, almost feeling the steam, and dunking it again, I placed it inside of his dry mouth.

"Are you positive of this, Al? Fullmetal won't be happy about this," a voice sounded behind me as my hands worked diligently to concoct a better solution for the wound. I froze. The hairs on the back of my neck pricked up.

_Fullmetal!_ my thoughts screamed, _As in Edward Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist! Then… that would mean…_

Forcing my immobile neck to turn to stare at the group watching me with the same intensity only without horror, the realization struck me with a devastating blow: _All of them are alchemists!_

Like being doused in ice water, I realized I had been kidnapped to a camp of heathens. And had I no compassion for the ill, I would've ran as far as my tiny legs would carry me.

"If it makes you feel any better, I'll take the blame for this one," the one they called Al assured them. "We haven't lost a man yet, and I am not starting with Hughes! This girl is said to be the best. I had no other choice."

Whether it was the childlike innocence in his determined voice or the fact that someone was offering to act as a shield to me, I felt my mind settle, but only a little. Edward would come and find me here, and I would probably die either by his hands or her alchemists'.

But what could I do but stay? As long as the man they called Hughes was sick, I felt a new responsibility. Someone needed me, and it felt good.

A grim smile spread over my features, I went back to work with little knowledge of what the God had planned for me. Touching my Prayer Amulet, I whispered a blessing of protection for my patient and myself, feeling a strange calm over my body and mind.

Fate and God were working in mysterious ways, and I was apart of their strange weavings, and whether it will lead me to my death or salvation, I await willingly.

**xXx**

Two and a half days went by, myself having nothing to complain about as I kept a diligent watch over my patient called Hughes. Alphonse (who I had learned was the name of the man in the armor) and the rest saw to it that I had everything I asked for. I was slowly learning everyone's names (the one that dressed with the rank of colonel was Roy Mustang and his assistant who I assumed was more than just an assistant was Riza Hawkeye) and for the most part it felt like I just had to smile and they would treat me like any other person who was doing them a great favor.

_They do not know my real name, my origin,_ I would think sadly, knowing if they did they would kill me. _Central City is known for its laws against alchemists—_I shuddered as I thought of the gruesome punishments for becoming a human against God—_and my grandfather led those acts. My father upholds them. If they knew my name, they would kill me._

Mostly, however, I would push these thoughts out of my head. Never once did they give me a reason to fear them or I for them to hate me. But every time the sun sunk behind the trees of the dense forest, and the entire camp settled into a restless night, I could not help think of the danger I was in, and how much I was risking for a man I did not know. And yet I look at all of them and feel as if I finally have found a safe niche.

"Like a family," I murmured under my breath as I glanced back at the alchemists behind me. Moving in and out of camp, they all reported to Roy and Riza (like children to their parents), some caring supplies, some leaving mysteriously, but I don't ask why. I need not know their lives just as they do not know mine.

"Yeah, I guess we are," Al said quietly next to me. I smiled. Over the past few days he had been my most loyal—what would I call him? A friend, maybe—and has kept me company. We have discussed fleeting topics, none of real quality, but I knew this one would be different. "We protect each other, I suppose I need not tell you that most of us are alchemists."

"Yes, I did guess," I said quietly. "But why do you trust me so much to know?"

"You won't tell, you are not like that," his child voice answered simply.

"And what do you mean most? I had thought that all of you would be—"

"Oh no"—Al shook his head, causing the metal to scrape a little—"Riza is not an alchemist but a skilled gunwoman, and that man who is looking through those papers is Jean Havoc, Maria Ross, and even the man you are watching over is not an alchemist."

"But… _why?_" I asked, desperately trying to understand. If they were just human then they could repent their sins easily, why would they choose a life to be damned for all eternity? But I didn't say anything, knowing I would just offend them. They may be nice, but they are the enemies of God and my family, I cannot become close.

"That is not for me to say." And our conversation ended. I wasn't angry; they all often ended that way. Al was careful to what he said to me, it was obvious I wasn't meant to know much, and I him. Still, they were all nice and pleasant to me. Riza was like an older sister when Alphonse wasn't around. Often grumbling about another person to baby-sit, I could tell she enjoyed my company and I hers.

When I told Al on how I viewed Riza, he sat for a while and then asked a question he deemed not too private, "You are an only child?"

It was a simple question and could be answered vaguely. Choosing my words carefully, I answered, "No. I have an older sister, but she is not much of one. She casts a long shadow, and as the younger, plainer sister I am often overlooked."

Lynelle was always called beautiful; her long honeydew hair in wavy curls circling her heart shaped face and her brown eyes could draw any man's attention towards her. She was gifted in the art of sewing (while I never got past stitching a wound) and she carried herself like a queen. I am not ashamed to say I was jealous of my sister, but I did not envy her now, married to a man old enough to be her father.

"I also have a younger brother by two minutes," I said quietly, unsure if that was safe to say. But Al just nodded and did not push for any more information. It was ten days to midsummer and the sun beat through the leaves onto the camp and even in the cool shade of the cave I was sweating through my only clothes. Glancing to my companion, a thought occurred to me. "Al?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you not hot in all of that armor?"

As soon as an uncomfortable silence stretched over our corner I knew I had touched a tender nerve. Focusing back to my patient and trying to get him to swallow something other than water, I tried to take it back but Al waved it off.

"I have to go, take care, I'll be back before nightfall."

One by one the members of the misfit camp left, and I felt in the pit of my stomach I had done something wrong, and that something was going to happen…

That afternoon was the afternoon I personally met Edward Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist.

**xXx**

_The author speaks…_

_As you grew up in your older sister's shadow, Lynelle thrived as Central City's beauty. Receiving gifts and proposals from many admirers, all loved her, and although you resented it, you also fell under her spell. But then there came the day a group of circus performers put a private show for you and your family._

_Among the entertainers was a young acrobat with a mop of crimson curls and piercing black eyes. Lynelle was enchanted by him and was often missing from certain events. No one suspected anything save for yourself who had been unfortunate enough to stumble upon the two in a most uncompromising position._

_Unintentionally you let it slip to your twin brother who in turn had told your father. Lynelle was then sent away for marriage to a Shou Tucker in a neighboring city, and that was the last you or anyone else had heard from her._

**xXx**

Showing no mercy, the afternoon sun beat down onto the back of my neck as I stewed some herbs while my patient slept fitfully back in the cave. It was murder to sit next to the hot flames, but the herbs needed to be watched in order to make sure they weren't overcooked.

When they were done I spilt them into a bowl and carried them over to my patient, and while wiping his soaked brow (then afterward mine) I tried to make him swallow the concoction. After his fitful sleep fell into a dreamless one, I leaned back, enjoying the shade, however little it helped.

Watching Hughes intently, as he was known to start coughing blood in his sleep, I did not sense a newcomer into the camp, thinking it was one of the others. I was soon proved wrong when I was roughly grabbed by the back of my dress and flung away from my patient.

Before I had time to focus my eyes and thoughts, I felt my back pressed against the rock wall of the cave and being held up by a strong, gloved hand around my neck, threatening to squeeze my air pipe shut. My feet barely touching the ground as I looked into the steely eyes of the one and only Edward Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't end your time on this earth right now," he snarled menacingly.

A few seconds passed as I registered what was happening, but when I tried to speak by opening my mouth Edward's inhumanly strong hand squeezed my neck, but only hard enough so that air had trouble reaching my lungs. Gasping for air took the place of my words as I began to kick and bring my hands around his wrist in small attempts to make him release his grip. He smirked as relaxed it, allowing precious air to rush into my lungs as I gulped it greedily.

"Feh, just as I thought," he sneered, "a weak wench."

I tried to speak again, but he responded in the same way: strangling my air pipe just enough to make it difficult to breath. _He's training me,_ I thought. _He wants me to learn obedience. If I don't comply, he'll kill me._

Thoughts on how it wouldn't matter if he did or not flashed through my mind, but then it turned to Hughes at the other wall. I couldn't leave him, I just couldn't. _Fine,_ I thought bitterly. _I'll play his game, but only until Hughes is on the way to recovery._

"Stubborn thing, aren't you, you bitch?" I was sick of that smile and longed to wipe it off his smug face, but I stayed quiet. "But you learn quick."

Again I didn't give him the satisfaction of a reply. It would be giving him what he wanted, and somehow that keeping it from him gave me a grim satisfaction.

"Brother!" came a desperate cry from the entrance of the cave. (It was Alphonse.)

"What is the meaning of this!" Ed raised his voice to match his rising temper. Now it was my turn to smirk. But he just answered with another choking grip. "What is… is this… _wench_ doing in my camp!"

Offended, I suppressed the urge to lash out my tongue. Unfortunately I must've made a face of disgust instead.

"And a disrespectful one at that," spat the alchemist as his hold tightened once again around my neck.

"Stop it, brother!" cried Al. "I brought her here! This was my doing!"

_Brother?_ The thought was vaguely questioned in my mind as oxygen quickly made its way to my brain once again. (At Al's cry, I was released from Ed's grasp.) Collapsing on the cave floor, I was exhausted from nerves and dizzy from the lack of air. Looking at the pair of alchemists… brothers… I was frightened by Edward's expression: anger.

_Does my presence affect their living that much?_

They were fighting now, but I can't say I was paying attention, even though it was of my fate they were arguing about. Instead I inched my way to my patient in hopes that his fever had gone down and that he was not begin disturbed with the noise that now echoes in the cave. Unfortunately from me, Edward spotted my movement and pulled me back. Grabbing the front of my dress, he brought me up so I was level with him. (Despite the fact that he was short for his age, I was still centimeters below him.)

"And what are you doing?" was the icy tone, his gold eyes daring me to speak.

"Ch-checking on my p-patient," I tried to steady my wavering voice and look him in the eye, but my fears shook my nerves. So many stories of this infamous bandit-alchemist have passed through Central City. I heard he was capable of summoning weapons without a transmutation circle. (I supposed this was some great feat as everyone else was amazed by it.)

And I had no doubt in my mind that I would be joining his long list of victims.

But he didn't pull a smirk; he just kept those icy amber eyes on me. "Al, pray tell: why _did_ you bring her here?"

"To help Hughes."

"I thought I told you what to do about him."

"Brother, you know I couldn't do that."

"It's pointless Al, and you don't want a repeat of her do you…?"

At this, the man in armor hung his head in silence and then mumbled a small "No." I could tell my companion was in pain and wished I could comfort him, but I did not know what any of it meant.

"Besides Al, you would be doing a favor."

"I still couldn't do it," Al said bluntly.

"Then why didn't you get someone else?"

"No one else would either."

"Pathetic," sneered Ed. "What kind of band do I have? One that can't even put a guy out his misery!"

I felt my entire body go numb of shock. _He would actually _kill _one of his men!_ My stunned thoughts must have leaked into my expression as he turned his icy glare into a grim smirk. I swallowed spit from my dry mouth. _What have I done!_

**xXx**

_The author speaks…_

_Ta Da! You've met the love of your life! So cute… (sigh)._

_Next chapter: you get kidnapped again! Oh, the suspense. And please people, review. (sniff) I need to feel loved!_


	2. The Sun's Death

**ATTENTION:**

**PLEASE NOTE that I had combined the first and second chapter. If you some how skipped the second chapter without realizing, please go back and read it.**

**And thank you for those who reviewed. And what about the rest of you? Liked it? Hated it? Think I could do better? REVIEW! (Flame, but please keep it constructive.)**

**Even it is just to say that you thought it was okay, please review!**

**And so ends my long rants. Please enjoy the second chapter to _Fated when Forbidden: How the Sun Dies._**

**ALSO NOTE**

**I changed Lynelle's husband to Shou Tucker for plot purposes.**

**xXx**

So numb that I didn't even feel Edward let go of my crumpled dress to muse over his conflict (on whether or not to let me stay). Silently I prayed that he would keep me, not for my sake, but for Hughes. Beginning to show signs of recovery, he would die if they took me away from him.

Silence stretched over the cave, the sky coloring with the sun's magnificent death. And almost willingly, I let a memory take me far away from where I was, at the mercy of an alchemist-assassin, to a time that seemed so very far away…

…

"_Make the sun come back," I whimpered into my mother's dress. "Please Mother, I don't want it to go away."_

"_Dearest, the sun will come back, but first it has to die," Mother's honeyed voice floated in the air._

"_Huh?" Forgetting my fear of the impending darkness, I looked up at her through my tears, even wiping some of them away._

_Squatting down my small size, she ruffled my hair with her hands and smiled. "Do you know why the sun makes such beautiful colors at the end of the day?"_

_I shook my head._

"_The sun is sending off a message that it will be back in the same beautiful display of colors in the morning. Every day the sun is born and dies, but tells us that it is not the end, only a new beginning, and leaves us the moon and stars to give us hope to live on to the next day."_

…

_But, _I couldn't help but think _I may not live regardless of a new beginning._

Edward scrutinized me with his amber eyes, battling with his inner thoughts on the situation at hand. Silence stretched over the cave, Al's unseen eyes moving from Ed to myself then back to the Fullmetal Alchemist, who refused to break unblinking eye contact with me. I was now at Hughes's side staring up into hard golden eyes. My nerves were being pulled in opposite directions: nervous, hate, fear, terror, they were all there. But I could not look away.

Like me he was unnaturally tiny, possibly only centimeters above my height. His golden hair was pulled back into a short single braid with bangs framing his unnatural gold eyes. Ed's apparel was that of a traveler: black pants, boots, and shirt with a red warn coat embossed with the design of a winged serpent wrapped around an arrow pointed cross, and gloves.

_How unusual, _I mused despite my situation, _to where gloves in the summer…_

I snapped out of my reverie when Edward's sharp voice broke my train of thought.

"You have eleven days to heal him, after that you are at our mercy," his voice prattled them off like they were military commands, "My alchemists will fetch you whatever you like save for weapons, those will be handled with my supervision only." His voice was cold and emotionless, but I sat quietly and attentively, like a well-behaved child. I felt degraded and stupid, like an ignorant child, but this was life or death, and had it not been for the knowledge that it was mine along with another's I would've backed out then and there. But I couldn't abandon him, not now.

"Eleven days…" At this I started.

"Eleven! That's not nearly enough!" Empowered by my indignation I stood, fully facing the feared alchemist, not entirely understanding my actions myself. But then…

"You're just a kid!" I exclaimed without thinking then immediately realizing my mistake.

"How dare you—"

"Brother!" I silently thanked Al as the man in armor's hand stopped his leader's that was about to make an impression on my face. After a few moments of labored breathing, Ed shrugged his brother off, and Al let him, thinking him cool enough to think a little more clearly.

"Fine," Ed said bitterly, smirking, "_Ten _days, ending on Midsummer. And that better teach you to question my hospitality, wench." His tone was biting, but this time I caught myself before speaking and hung my head in acceptance, despite his belittling name for me.

After he left in a huff, Al apologized and said he would talk to him, but I told him no.

"You can't change a person's mind when it doesn't want to change," I said calmly, holding back the urge to sprint after the hothead myself and yell into his arrogant face. "I am not a good enough reason for you to quarrel with your brother. Besides, this is my task and I will finish. I must."

**xXx**

The days and nights were long and I denied myself most of the body's needs (mostly sleep) as I watched over my patient. Hughes was showing tremendous progress but it could easily turn the other way without warning so I must keep vigilant.

One the third day (seven days and counting till the deadline) Hughes was able to swallow a full cup of water and herbs I had prepared for him, but vomited it up later when we tried soup.

Alphonse and the others seemed more than ready to help. (I guessed Al had told them of my meeting of Edward and they wanted to make up his lack for hospitality.) I often had the feeling that all I had to do was smile and they would be off. That is, all except for Edward himself, who would sit just outside of the cave and call me wench, bitch, and any other degrading name he could think of as I walked past him.

On the fourth night, after Hughes was in a dreamless state, I walked out of the cave ignoring Edward's immature glare, and breathed in deep fresh air. Sitting next to Al in the circle around the fire, I quietly began to listen to the sound of the woods, staring into the fire.

"Are you alright?" asked a concerned Al, bringing everyone else's attention towards me. Coloring, I shook my head.

"Yes," I said quickly. _Just a little tired and homesick._

I sighed.

Sensing that I was lying, Al suggested I tell them a story. Trying to wave it off, the rest of the circle soon joined him and I couldn't help but look at Edward. He had his arms crossed over his chest, his face drawn into a sulk. _Like a spoiled child, _ I thought acidly, but I held my tongue.

"Alright," I said quietly. "But let me think of one…"

After a few moments of thinking you began, "Once there was an orphan boy who saw a thousand shoot stars one night. 'Where did they all go?' he wondered.

"And so he thought that if he rode from one end of the world to the other he would find the stars and for ten years he traveled alone, surviving on thievery and crookedness.

"But one day he stole a much needed comb for his horse from a beautiful young princess. Now the comb had belonged to her dead mother, so she chased after him, demanding that he return her comb.

"He did not but the princess had lost her horse and her way back so he took care of her, no matter how much she resented him for stealing her comb. Soon he fell in love with the princess, but still refused to give her the comb, knowing that if he did, she would go away forever.

"And although the princess would never admit it, she loved the boy too.

"But one day the boy was careless and left the comb where the princess found and took it, but she didn't leave. When the boy saw that the comb was gone, he mourned thinking that the princess would leave him as soon as she knew. But when he told her he had lost the comb, she just smiled.

"'If you wanted a comb you need only to ask,' she said. The boy was confused.

"'It is not the comb I want, princess,' he said humbly. And when she asked what did he want. He replied:

"'When I was a boy I saw a thousand shooting stars and I thought that if I rode to the earth's end and back I would find them. But I've found something better.'

"'And what is that?' the princess asked.

"'I am a man. And I've found the brightest and most beautiful star in the entire sky,' he said, kissing her hand. And she took him back to her palace where they were married and lived happily ever after."

Silence replaced my words soon after I finished, but I had not realized it as my entire conscious had melded with the flicker of the flames in front of my face. Why had I chosen that story? Truly none of these would care of a love fairy tale told to three-year-old girls before bed. And yet, they all seemed mystified to the point of believing there was such a princess and a boy and such a love that would tear down all logic.

But I did not listen to what they said afterward, only to my own heart beat blend with the forest.

**xXx**

_The author speaks…_

_Every memory of that night after that point would be wiped from your memory like a vague dream. Havoc had pushed a mug of warm beer into your hands and with the drink weighing heavily in your mind, it all became like some fantastic dream with everyone laughing, even Edward. But then your dream turned into a fitful one, with you standing on top of the mountain, the wind rushing through your hair, shouting 'Jump! It is time! Jump!'_

_And then you awoke…_

**xXx**

Awaking as the sun climbed toward its noon position, I jumped up only to be met with a powerful rush of my chest and heart pounding. Leaning against the cave wall (I must've been carried into the cave by one of the others), I steadied myself, forcing to think rationally.

Deciding I had fallen asleep from pure exhaustion, I wobbled over to my patient who was still unconscious. After vowing never to drink alcohol again, I held the back of my hand to his forehead only to quickly draw it back again. His fever had somehow spiked higher than when it began.

Searching for my water basin and cloth, I found it empty and I cursed. Looking around and not seeing one at present, I redressed the infected wound on the arm and placed a soothing lotion over Hughes's head and then walked out of the cave, my own headache beginning to wear off.

Stretching my stiff limbs from my night on the stone floor, I continued to look for any form of life. I began to worry. _Strange, they always left someone behind before. _I gasped. _Did something happen to them?_

"I sent them out," an unseen voice answered. Spinning around I found I was in the presence of Edward Elric, alone. Sitting where he always had outside the cave entrance, I wondered why I hadn't seen him. His cold amber eyes sent shivers down my spine but I stood firm, giving myself a little defiant look. "I will be keeping with you wench. However, I am not as easy to use as my poor excuses for comrades are. If you need anything I will direct you to where you can find it, but if you get lost, I will not come looking for you."

"Water?" was the only thing I managed to say through my locked jaw.

"Head that way, if you walk straight you'll find it in ten minutes or so."

"Thank you." I forced myself to nod my head in recognition.

"Feh."

Lifting my head so that I could give him a cold look, I held back my displeasure as he turned back to the metal work he held in his gloved hands and ignored me. _He's nothing but an ungrateful child, _I spat inside my head.

The unseen trail was easy enough to follow, and just as Edward said I found the stream in ten minutes of walking. But when I reached for a bucket, I realized I forgotten back at camp.

Silently scolding myself for my stupidity, I turned back toward camp, only to find that all the trees looked the same.

"Now, what is a rare and exotic flower doing in the middle of the wood?" said a smooth voice behind me, "Such a beauty should be where it can be admired."

Snapping back around, I found myself staring into cold, emotionless purple eyes. It was a human… but not a human, with palmed out hair held back from a thin and narrow face. His smile sent shivers down my spine as hungry eyes combed my body. Suddenly I felt naked and vulnerable under my unwashed and stiff dress.

"P-please, I am-am in a hurry," I said, silently cursing my unsteady tongue. Then, making as if to turn and run, he grabbed my arm in a vice-grip. Feeling panic slither down into my muscles, I tried pulling away, opening my mouth to unleash a scream.

My abductor was quick. In one movement he pulled me back towards him, pressing our bodies together, and clamped his thin but muscular arms around my tiny middle, pinning my arms to my sides, while the other clamped a hand over my mouth, stifling any sound.

The human… no, demon pressed his face against mine as I tried to wiggle out of his grip in vain. "No, no flower," he breathed silkily into my ear, "I have some friends who have been waiting for you for such a long time. We wouldn't want to keep them waiting. Would we?"

Something inside me still told my body to rebel and try to run, but some sort of power came that made my body go rigid like a machine. Shaking my head like a robotic doll, I felt my attacker loosen his grip and half-lead, half-drag me away from Edward's camp.

As I watch the river and hear the sound start to fade, another wave of dread washed over me as I remember the Fullmetal's words: _I will not come looking for you._ Filled with a sense of impending doom, I hung my head, trying not to cry.

It was a long while before the demon used his inhuman strength and flung my body at the base of a tree, stunned from the impact I could not move and it was not long before I was surrounded like a caged animal. There were seven of them: two women, one child, and four men. And for the first time in my life, I _felt_ like an animal. Frightened so that all rational thought escaped me and I even surveyed the full circle by moving on all fours.

The demon that brought me to this horrific place (where, I could not tell you in my terrified state) was the last one I faced and his sneer and hypnotic eyes caught me. Squatting down to my level, he grabbed hold of my shaking chin, forcing me to keep eye contact.

"Is this her, Lust?" he questioned as he kept me perfectly still, like a trained pet.

One of the women, the one wearing a revealing dress and tattoo of a snake biting its own tail above her breast, smiled menacingly and seductively. "Envy, you have done well," she praised. "She will be the perfect sacrifice. We are sure she is a virgin though?"

Had I not been incapacitated with fear, I would've taken offense, but all that registered in my mind was _sacrifice_. Thoughts of escape rushed into my head, but the one called Envy held me under his spell.

"Of course, either that or a superb actress," he snickered under his breath, and for the first time bringing me half way back to normal as the urge to slap him over came the urge to run. Hot tears were leaving burning streaks down my cheeks at this point and that only made my captors laugh.

"Such a young girl," drawled the other woman.

"Yes," said Lust thoughtfully. "Unfortunately we are not ready. Wrath, Greed, guard her until we have a need."

As five turned a way, the child and one of the men staid beside me, watching me. Glad of Envy's release of his hypnotic hold, I tried to suppress my primitive instincts and think calmly. Able to maneuver myself into an upright position, I listened as a man who was shorter than me and extremely fat ask Lust, "Can I eat her?"

Placing a delicately gloved hand on his fat, greasy baldhead, Lust replied, "Not yet, not while she still has a use."

Turning to stone, I sat at the foot of a tree trunk, guarded by two demons, watching the others prepare for satanic ritual. _A ritual in which I had a sacrificial part._

Fear turned me to stone as I sat quietly in between two smirking devils, I saw that the sun itself was beginning its fantastic end of another life, promising to come back renewed with the same brilliance. _But, _I couldn't help but think, _I may not be able to make the same promise,_ as the demons worked diligently and I sat, waiting to what I was beginning to think to be my inevitable doom.


	3. Fighting Tides

Most say that when you are face to face with death, you become oblivious to everything around you, unable to comprehend the gravity of the situation. But those who say that are wrong. Everything becomes sharper, more vibrant through your senses. Maybe it is because you'd never noticed how beautiful and precious life was until it in itself was on the line. Or maybe you were taking everything as a last view on life. Whatever the reason, my surroundings filled my senses, almost overwhelming me with their wickedly sweet sent of life as final farewell.

I was exhausted from nerves as spasms of panic would come and go with the full force of the oceanic tides, causing me to forget to breathe in until I threatened to pass out. Gasping for air, however, often earned me greedy looks from the demons that held me prisoner and the others who continued setting up their strange ritual.

The one that frequently gave me hungry eyes was the fat, pudgy one they had called Gluttony, who licked his licks disgustingly, revealing a tattoo of a snake biting its own tail off encircling a star. I noticed through my unusually sharp eyes that Envy had one on his back left thigh, and on the breast of the scantily clad woman (Lust, they had said).

Memories blurred my mind, acting as a sedative in my moments of terror, playing in a silent film. Lynelle and her lover wrapped in each other's arms—General Soldato (what I referred to call my father) sentencing her to a life of marriage to Shou Tucker—the wedding—Derrick, my twin brother, as a child, reaching down from a tree with his hand extended—my bones being set in from a nasty fall from the tree the same day…

I smiled. Derrick often was one to get me into trouble.

Carmen and my mother's faces took place of my reeling wheel of recollections. These two women had cared for me since birth, more than any other person I could think of. Carmen, my nurse and teacher, and then my mother, a woman whose features shined brilliantly in my memory, the picture I chose to remember before sickness had worn them down. Recovering barely, I often wondered whether it would've been more merciful to let her die instead of wither like a lingering flower.

It had been them who had taken me to Church and showed me the might of God. Inspired and in awe, I had quickly become a regular in their long walks to Church on their offering days and mass. Before long, I had grown and was able to make the trip in my spare time, to my Church… my sanctuary.

A blast of cool night air stopped my reveries. The sun seemed to have made its final farewell as I looked up to see a star-studded velvet blanket above, the moon (not yet full) slowly beginning its lazy cycle.

Envy approached me shortly after my observation, smiling in the newly lit firelight. Grabbing my chin, he forced my eyes to meet his. Trying to return his lustful stare with a hardened glower despite the panic I was trying to fight down, I straightened my spine and sat with as much dignity I could muster, watching his purple eyes roam carefully up and down my body, stopping at all of the measure places.

"It is time flower, although I wish I could have a little fun before we part. But that does not mean I cannot have a final performance. Such garments are not fit for such a delicate blossom, why don't you remove them before my fingers… _accidentally _slip."

Offended and feeling the last remains of my mental barriers slipping, my fear took a violent turn to hate. Hate for this demon that looked on me like I was meat, hate for Edward and his gang for taking me away from my home, and hate for the rest of the demons who watched just as greedily.

Most say that when you feel a deep hatred for a person it is like red-hot spike being dug into your chest and needles seething through your mind. I felt no heat, however, but an unbelievable calm. I hated him so much that my body drew back on itself, picking out each movement carefully.

Standing up and breaking his hold on my chin, I slapped him across the face. Then, like a reflex, my knee came into contact with his stomach. Time slowed as he doubled over, and all sound was blocked out as my feet, driven with some invisible force, rushed out of the enclosing circle.

My mad rush through the forest did not register in my mind, driven back into a more primal state, nothing occurred to me save one thing: _survive!_

The next thing that I could distinguish clearly was a short drop off into rapids. It was at this point I had noticed a thorn in my foot. Momentarily stopping to remove it, I froze as an all too slipper voice said behind me: "Well my fiery flower, you are trapped." Whirling around, I stared in horror at the band of demons, which did not look at all winded from the long distance I had run.

My heart slammed into my ribcage, threatening to break its own barriers, my breath was quick but labored. Adding the fact I had nowhere else to run, it was time—

"—to die," said the plainer of the two women bluntly, finishing my thought.

Envy took a step towards me…

And I took a step back…

…and fell into the turmoil of rapids only a few feet below.

All at once life became vibrant again. Cold water enveloped my small frame; my last vision of the forest world was Envy smiling at me. Shivering more from the memory then numbing water, my situation became more real as my lungs burned for air. Struggling to get above the boiling water reflecting with moonlight, I felt my arms move sluggishly through the numbing water. However, my struggles were soon rewarded with a desperate gasp of clean air before I was immersed once again by a wave of ice.

The turbulent waters thrust me into protruding rocks, causing my numb nerves to jump. Surfacing for only a few gulps of air, my body seemed to be pushed to its limits, my skin loosing all feeling. Bobbing up and down helplessly I felt my strength waning.

Ironically, I wondered how many times I would face the Reaper before he became merciful, thinking how his trademark scythe would be welcome after all of this.

However, before the Reaper claimed me after I passed from the hands of the stampeding river, the water mellowed enough for me to grab hold of a rock, gasping for air and shaking from exhaustion. My dress was threatening to fall off my small frame; heavy curtains of knotted hair fell plastered to the sides of my face. I thought I was crying but I could not tell my skin was so numb.

Through bleary eyes I saw a low reed covered bank, and as if in a dream, I let go of the rock and drifted like a helpless leaf, feebly gripping the reeds and pulling myself to the muddy bank. Collapsing with half of my numb face pressed against the cool mud, I felt every last bit of strength leave me.

I don't know how long I lay there, struggling to stay awake and feeling the beginnings of hypothermia set in, but was jerked out of my dream-like state as an all too familiar foot sloshed down in the much in front of my face. Fear made my muscles involuntarily tense.

Unsure of whether I was being pulled up by my dress or neck, I was soon brought up face to face with Envy. Not capable of returning his look of lustful contempt, I felt my senses continue to move at a sluggish pace.

"Ah, ah, flower," he said. I was so tired and numb that I barely registered what he was saying. He raised a hand and I flinched, though I knew I wouldn't be able to feel any blow at this point. Instead he ripped the front of my dress, and my ears filled with his poisonous laugh. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a smirking Lust.

"D-damn y-y-you t-to hell," I spat in his face, not caring if I died, all rational thought gone. All I wanted was to fall asleep. Envy stretched a perverted smile across his face.

"I've already been there, flower—"

He stopped at my horrible pet name, his unnaturally purple eyes widened and dilated and collapsed, and I followed a half a second later. My sluggish senses took a moment to take everything in as I found myself once again, half of my face in cold muck. I was shocked that I could feel it, the numbness wearing away to a painful sensation that tingled up and down my entire body.

Looking into Envy's open dull eyes, I paled and skidded away, only to take in the sight of the corpse with a hole for a stomach. Breathing hard, the world coming back to full view, I looked up and stifled a yell through difficulty. Edward, the Fullmetal Alchemist, stood over the carcass, what would've been his right arm a sharpened sword.

**(A/N: In this story, they can die by wounds like that.)**

Hearing a blood-curdling screech, both my and his attention drew over to Lust, who stared distraught at the body of Envy. (_Her lover,_ I guessed.) She threw out her hand, but it didn't stop at arms length. I watched in horror as her fingers extended into sharp needles, aimed directly at Fullmetal.

Unlike me, he must've expected this and in a bright flash of blue light had an arm back (a metal one) and ducked, a few strands of gold hair suspended in the moonlit night. With inhuman speed Edward was behind Lust, and another flash of blue light tore off a good part of skin on her side. (She had dodged at the last moment.)

I sat up, slowly, trying to hold the remains of my dress to my shivering body. Unfortunately, this caught Lust's eye. Fingers extended I was pushed the much and reeds until my back was to a tree trunk, her fingers on either side of my neck.

"Damn you," she whispered to me, "Damn you. It's your fault he's dead," her pale face was now inches from mine, "It's your fault he's dead!" she screamed. "And you," her voice dripping with contempt as Lust turned her head to a glaring Edward, her black curls flailing, "you will pay, first I'll kill her and then… then I'll kill _you!_"

A strange sensation came over me, like I was no longer inside my body but watching this from another point of view. I saw myself pinned against the tree with Lust only a foot away, and Edward eyeing Lust with hatred, his metal arm (now transformed into a large blade) itching to move.

The scene unfolded like a rehearsed play: Ed lowered his makeshift weapon, and in a flash of blue light it was a normal arm again. Lust sharpened her fingers, giving them a dangerous glint in the dying moonlight.

I saw myself moving to touch the dangerous blades that caressed my throat, and gripping one with my left hand. (This would be odd as I am right handed.) And then I did something that took everyone, including myself, by surprise. My grip hardened, blood began a steady flow down my wrist, and I dragged her blade away from neck enough for me to slip out.

Ignoring the burning sensation of the cut, I was now back inside my body, watching Lust's amazed yet burning eyes, but I had accomplished what my over all plan had been: a distraction. A flash of blue light played out at the edge of my vision, and blood spilled as a metal spike drove into the woman's hand. Screaming, she lashed out in anger, causing her to become predictable enough so the Ed could duck and strike again. But this time, she was watching and dodged, causing only a deep scratch on her left cheek.

In moments she was several feet away, but Ed had moved closer to me so there was no hope of recovering her bargaining chip. Releasing a stream of curses, Lust disappeared from the bank, leaving Envy's corpse along with us.

"You're shaking."

Startled, I was no less than surprised at Ed's simple comment. Yes, I was shaking, but I did not hold it up to him to care or even notice. I was still struggling to hold the remains of my dress against my numb body, my wet hair clung to my skin, and I could barely walk two steps any more. Going for the benefit of the doubt, I nodded to his blunt observation, and was surprised when I dimly felt something being draped over my soldiers.

Glancing over, I saw that he had removed his red coat, mumbling small thank yous; I hugged it around my small frame too tired to regret thinking how nice it smelled. And then, as if to top the coat, he asked: "Can you walk?"

When I shook my head, Ed maneuvered himself so that his back faced me, crouching a little; he held his arms a little back. Confused at first through fatigue, I fell onto him, letting and I wrapped my arms (now protect by his coat) around his neck and feeling him lift me off the ground.

Murmuring thanks into his ear, I let myself drift between the world of dreams and the world where the sun broke free of its night prison. _I made it mom, _I thought blearily, _I saw the sun's birth when I thought it wasn't possible. God sent me an angel._

Too tired to be surprised by my own thought, I glided into a dreamless sleep as the sun painted its beautiful colors across the sky in celebration.

**xXx**

_The author speaks…_

_Ed returned to the camp with you fast asleep. Laying you down and wrapping you within his coat, he turned toward Hughes and checked his forehead. Finding his friend just as he had left him, Fullmetal continued to the fire, where he sat watching his two charges for an entire day. Then you awoke…_

**xXx**

"How long have I been asleep?" I asked awkwardly, unsure if our somewhat civil conversation had turned back toward insults.

"A day," was the short answer. I let go of a breath I had unknowingly held, it wasn't civil but at the same time it wasn't barbaric.

Then the length of time I had been unconscious hit me. _A day! An entire day wasted!_ Clenching my fist in exasperation, my thoughts stopped as soon as I felt a foreign material. Looking down at my left hand I raised an eyebrow of surprise at the bloodied bandage. With very little other options available, I looked at Edward who refused to look in my direction.

"Why did you—?"

"What I did was in no concern for your safety. That band had been growing cocky so I decided it was time to knock them down off their pedestal. The fact that I cam just in time to save your sorry ass was in no way other than a lucky coincidence," his tone was a little less than harsh.

"There are clothes for you to change in by Hughes."

I tightened my lips, feeling the beginnings of a retort growing on my tongue, but then, as if blown away, it disappeared. Feeling my expression soften, I even attempted to smile as I said: "Thank you. Even if you didn't mean to, thank you… for everything," adding the last part as I made a gesture with my bandaged hand.

Grunting, Ed gave a pained expression before dissolving to a light chuckle. I was shocked. This had not been any of the reactions I had expected.

Unable to think of a way to react to this, I stayed quiet. It was not long before he gave an explanation.

"To think that a weak woman like you," he chuckled under his breath, "stood up to the Sins."

Confused, I asked why.

"Because," he said, his chuckles transforming into a genuine laugh, "next to my band they were the most powerfully influential bandits to the government."

At first unable to say anything, I started laughing as well. So much in fact that I doubled over and had to hold my splitting sides. It is strange how something that once terrified you, can make you laugh so hard you cry as if you had heard a humorous story instead, but as I fell to my knees and my cheeks threatened to fall off my face, I felt refreshed and something else that I couldn't quite put my finger on… relieved perhaps?

**xXx**

After the moment had passed, and Edward and I had gone back to a more respectable silence, I moved to my patient and was surprised to find him awake. True he had been awake before, but his eyes were always dazed, like he never knew what was going around him. Now he looked at me with all the recognition of an intelligent man, and he was smiling.

"You must be my guardian angel," was the first thing he said, and I blushed. His smile never faded as he drew his eyes back to the ceiling of the cave. Silence stretched over and I quietly dabbed his fore head and checked his wounds. I had changed into the clothes provided for me and Ed continued to sit outside.

Somehow, I could not help but something had changed: with him, with me, and with Hughes. A storm was coming; I could feel it.

"You look so much like your mother."

I froze at Hughes's comment. Panic began to set in. _No one was supposed to know!_

"Don't worry you're pretty little head, I will not tell Edward," he patted my hand that had frozen over his shoulder wound. "I should have thought before speaking, but you _do_ look so much like Kioko. She was a beautiful woman."

He was whispering, but I could feel every word resonate within the cave.

"You knew my mother?" I whispered back, so afraid that someone would over hear this.

Hughes nodded. "I _did_ have a life before this exile. That war," he grunted, "It ruined so much more than you could realize—" He glanced back at me, and then turned away. "I shouldn't talk of such things…"

"I know a few things about the Ishbal war, it was devastating to everyone," I whispered, remembering my grandfather's teachings. (I avoided the ones with alchemists.) "It started when the military shot a child. The civil war turned into a bloody affair, the military was forced to hire—" I stopped. But Hughes quickly picked up the loose ends.

"—Human weapons: alchemists. You don't need to lecture me on what happened, I lived through it."

"But you're not an alchemist!" I almost yelled. Glancing quickly to the entrance, I lowered my voice and whispered, "Why are you in exile?"

Hughes smiled. "Do me a favor sweetheart and reach into my pants pocket and pull out my wallet."

Mystified by his request, I pulled out the wallet and handed it to the injured man who somehow won me over with some invisible pull. This man, however, also knew who I was. It was something that could not be discovered.

"This," Hughes said, holding out a photo of a women and child, "Is, or was, my family."

I looked at the picture closer. The woman smiled that smiled back at me was beautiful with short-cropped hair holding a smiling girl with straw colored hair and olive green eyes. Taking in a short breath, I recognized my friend Elicia.

"That's Elicia, my only child," Hughes struggled to point out what I already knew. Then he moved to the woman, "And that," his grimace softened, "was my wife, Gracia. She died after the war…"

"But-but was she an alchemist?"

Hughes shook his head. "No. She was killed because…" he grunted as a spasm of pain passed through when I gave it pressure, "because, I was fighting the rebellion."

"Rebellion?"

"After the war, the government decided that the alchemists were a threat and would easily climb to power, so they started spreading propaganda. Propaganda that I am not proud to say I had a part in.

"Determined shove the 'human weapons' under a rock, they went through any means: blackmail, discharge, and murder. However, it wasn't until I actually had to sentence my best friend to be exterminated that I changed. I began spreading propaganda again; only this time it was the truth! I was able to save many of the alchemists you've met here.

"We used my house as a shelter and for a while it worked. Until someone ratted us out—" Hughes sucked in a sharp breath as I spread a stinging solution on the wound. After a few labored breaths, he returned to his story. "—and the military set fire to my house. We lost a few good people in that fire… including my wife."

My heart broke as the man's eyes expressed a grief that I had not yet experience: the death of a loved one. It is not something that I would wish on any one. I let myself drift from my work to place a comforting hand on his. He gave me a pained smile.

"I was lucky in a sense though," Hughes continued. "My daughter, Elicia, survived. She's about your age now. We left her on the steps of a monastery with a letter stating her name and birthday and other trivial facts. How I wish I could see her again… just once… before…"

Hearing his voice drift off I started. "No! You're going to heal; you're going to get better! Hughes, your daughter lives, I've seen her, and she's a beautiful young woman!"

He smiled. "Hush child, don't fret. You've done the best you can. Don't blame yourself, and if it makes you feel better, you've given me the best gift any father could ask for."

**xXx**

_The author speaks…_

_The next morning, Maes Hughes died…_


	4. Earth and Fire

I did not want to grieve anymore. I was an empty shell, a small skeleton at the mercy of the four winds. Drained of tears, I prepared the man whom I considered a friend for his burial. (Soon his body would stiffen and we must move him before then.) Edward was somewhere in the forest digging a grave and carving a headstone. And with alchemy, this task took no less then a few seconds. Still, he must've hesitated to think since he didn't come back until I was finished with the preparations.

Lowering Hughes in his ready-made casket, Ed filled in the grave, completing it with newly sewn grass. I laid a flower I had found outside of the cave, while Ed mumbled something off of military fashion. (I recognized it from somewhere or another.)

Something was bothering me. "Um," I started but then cut myself off. Too late, he had already taken notice. "May I um… it's nothing important, but my-my mom taught me a small grace for funerals and—"

"Do what you wish," was his short reply. I mumbled thanks and then turned toward Hughes's grave. Murmuring a prayer with a hand hovering lightly over the fresh earth, I let a moment of silence pass before I said: "May God receive you in his highest."

It was a short walk back to camp, but it felt like an eternity had passed before we arrived. Listlessly, I did what-seemed meaningless chores. With no sense of time, I curled into a small corner of the cave and fell into a fitful sleep.

My dreams tossed my mind into turmoil.

_Jump! Jump!_ was the only consistent message.

_Jump to what?_ my mind would cry back, only to have an unsettling silence as an answer.

Awake and upset, I moved toward the hill overlooking the newly turned grave. Ed was nowhere to be found.

It was bitterly cold for a summer's afternoon. (I had slept through the night and morning; it was Midsummer's day, the day of my departure.) The storm was close. At home my mother would be resting, her breathing ragged from delayed sickness and age, and General Soldato would be sitting by the bed, holding her pale, clammy hands in his over muscular ones. Or maybe he would be working on dreary military records, letting the scratching of pen on parchment fill the room, while his mind was with my mother.

'_He loved her so much,'_ I absently thought bitterly, much like the weather. It surprised me how harsh I had thought of my own father, but there was little that I adored him for. But mother… her I loved unconditionally, and she was dying… and I was here.

Abruptly I stood up. Home. I have to go home. They need me… and I need them. I do not belong _here. _I knew that.

Or at least, I thought I did.

I heard my name sound softly behind me. It was Ed. And if I had been anywhere else and not this eerily silent hill, I would've never heard him. I turned around slowly, surprised but still mournful. It was the first time I had ever heard him use my name. "I-I thought you were gone."

He was close, not two paces away, and continued to surprise me when I saw concern in his eyes. _'This is not Fullmetal Alchemist,'_ I thought, but then secretly smiled to myself, _'No, it is. This is the true Edward Elric.'_ I shifted at his words, then hung and shook my head, sniffing.

Tears flooded my eyes suddenly, and I couldn't hold them back.

"You're crying," he said softly. "You did your best. Nobody could have done better—"

"I-I should not… have, I…"

"It was a good death. You made his last moments on this earth happy. Now you can—now you can go home."

Feeling my heart leap to my throat, I stared at him. Confusing thoughts, overwhelming sadness, and too many other emotions to name filled my head. This was not how it had started, he had always been the one to call me rude and hateful things, and I thinking ones of equal value right back at him. How had that changed?

Edward took a deep breath. "I wish—I wish those tears…" he drifted off awkwardly and then tried again, "I wish I could make those tears go away."

There, he had said it. In the distance the first roll of thunder sounded in the deserted forest, but I didn't hear it. Clutching the shirt that he had given me at my chest, I drew in a breath, and in a moment of daring I took two steps forward—

_Jump!_ cried the wind that now swept the forest floor. _Jump now!_

—I shut my eyes and wrapped my arms around his waist, squeezing tightly. Resting my head on his chest, I vaguely noticed he was the perfect height to lay my head in the hallow of his neck where the blood pulsed under the skin.

_There, _said an unseen voice inside of me, _that was easy._

Crying freely into his shirt, I felt Ed go very still—and then his arms cautiously came around my shoulders, as if he had never embraced like this before.

We stood there awhile, unsure of what to do, what to say. My warm tears soaked his shirt.

For the next part, I cannot say at which point that the embrace, starting in a simple act of comfort, turned into something quite different. I cannot say which came first: his lips moving to touch my forehead, my eyelid, the tip of my nose; my hands twining around and up his neck, pulling loose his hair tie and watch strands of gold fall gracefully over his shoulders, my fingers entwining in said strands.

Both of us realized the moment of danger. Once his lips brushed mine, it was impossible to keep our needy mouths apart. That kiss, that moment was not a symbol of friendship or comfort, but a desperate passionate meeting of lips, teeth, and tongue, that left both of us shaking and breathless. I looked at him, wondering how long I had longed for this embrace. And for a pause, we broke and stared at each other, my arms around his neck, his around my waist, and our faces displaying the same confused passion.

"We-we can't do this," muttered Edward, his hand of flesh already under my shirt, caressing the swell of my breasts. My legs grew weak at his touch while my skin became inflamed. My heart slammed against my chest as I kept my eyes locked with his amber.

"I know," I whispered softly, to afraid to scare this moment into passing, as I twirled a piece of hair around my own finger. "We should—should forget this ever happened… and… and…"

"Hush," he breathed in my ear. I silently thanked that I was leaning against him otherwise I would've fallen over. I moaned softly as he ran his lips down my neck and shoulder, helping him to remove my shirt. The moment of drawing back was lost forever.

Need flared between us like an unstoppable and sudden wild fire, a fierce coming together that was both joyous and terrifying in its power. Rain thundered down, and the rocks we lay on, locked in each other's arms, ran with water. We were soaked through; but w barely noticed as hands explored soft skin and lips touched sensitive places. Moving together, we were in our own world.

Ed whispered my name as we both paused to gasp in air, me above him. Running his metal hand over my back I flinched at the cold against my skin. Startled and rejected, Ed started to withdraw his prosthetic arm away, but I stopped him. Smiling gently, I placed it on the small of my back, enjoying the refreshing coolness against my burning skin.

Kissing before he could object, I felt myself turn to liquid gold as his hands, both flesh and metal, roamed my body, relishing his touch. In return I did the same, hugging him tightly, vowing that would never let go, never, as my leg brushed against his prosthetic one.

Edward Elric had never learned tenderness (save for that for his brother), never been taught how to love a woman, he knew no fair words. But his actions and lips and body spoke sweetly enough for him. Rolling to have me below him, he locked my eyes with his gold orbs, and the desperate longing I saw nearly broke my heart.

Touching my lips to his neck, I felt a rhythm inside me, like a slow drumbeat, that moved me against him. The clenching and loosening of muscles, the touching and letting go, the building sweetness—blessed God!

I cried out as he pulled me upward toward him. Gasping with the heat that flooded my body, my lips met his once again, his touch like fire licking my skin despite the numbing rain pummeling down on us.

And then we lay still, wrapped in each other's arms, shaking and gulping in air, neither of us finding anything to say.

Sometime later we recovered and went inside the cave, sheltering our half numb bodies from the rain, and by the dying embers inside the lamp we removed each other's wet clothes and dried each other with rags.

Edward told me, rather haltingly, that I was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. And for a little while, I let myself believe it, trying not to think of all the complications involved with the next sunrise.

It was when he paused to wipe away the rain from my legs that my attention turned fully back to him. "You're bleeding," he stated softly, his golden eyes wavered, "I have hurt you."

I concealed my surprise, both at his resentful feeling of himself and the blood. "It is nothing," I said sweetly, gently pushing back loose strings of hair, "I have heard it is normal for the first time."

Edward did not reply, but started back at me caringly; and I thought, _'this is a different Edward. Quite different from the one that would threaten and insult me.'_ But it was the same man, not a boy as I had often misjudged him as, and somehow, I loved him for every bit of it.

He brushed my cheek tenderly with his metal fingers. "I-I don't know what to say," he whispered, and I slid closer to him and lay my head on his shoulder, wrapping his fake hand in mine.

"Then don't," I whispered. "Hold me, touch me. That's more than enough."

On an impulse I licked his ear, nipping it gently before moving down to his neck, and moving myself so that I straddled his legs. As I caressed his fingers, biting them playfully one by one, I smiled as I felt his hand break free of mine to stroke my cheek. Leaning into his touch, I felt myself act on impulse. Reaching out, I cupped his face and brought it gently to mine. Kissing him with every unnamed emotion flowing through me I felt him shake me off.

Hurt and confused I looked at him and understood.

"Please," he said unevenly, "stop," when his eyes said the exact opposite. "Don't, not unless—"

"Unless what?" I asked seductively, letting my own wants be communicated through my actions as I draped my arms around his neck. Edward smirked, his confidence suddenly back.

"Unless you want me to take you again," he said softly. My heart pounded with a feeling that made me dizzy. Matching his coy smile, I answered in the same seductive tone, "That would be acceptable…" but at that moment my confidence faltered, "Unless you've had enough."

Edward froze with his lips pressing softly against my cheek, my own mind beginning to drown in doubt. But he forced my chin upward so I sat on his lap, face to face with him, and he captured my lips in one perfect moment. And when he released them, the look that radiated out of his intense golden eyes lifted me out of my faltered confidence.

"Never," his breath fluttered over my ear, "I could never have enough."

We embraced, this time slowly, sipping every bit of bliss that dripped from the rest of the night, refusing to think of dawn. My heart threatened to spill over, so full of love for this man I had once called a murderous bandit.

Towards daybreak, Edward fell asleep, his head resting on my breast, and I felt a sedative peace fall over us. Only once was that peace broken when Ed started weeping like a child. At first startled, I cradled his head whispering calming words. I was surprised to hear him yell names, mine being one.

"Hush," I whispered, "I'm here. I'm safe." I held him tighter, so afraid that he would… would what? Leave? I couldn't say. But I felt a horrible thought pass through my mind: what if we did part? What then?

But my troubled thoughts soon melded back into a peaceful dream and I didn't move until I saw the sun's rebirth beginning as night's cloak lost many of its twinkling buttons to make way for a thin pale line on the horizon. Ironically, a sight that once would bring me joy when nothing else could fill me with an inevitable dread.

'_Please, dear God, let it not be dawn,'_ I pleaded silently to an unseen being. But my prayers fell on deaf ears as the sun rose in its glory, greeting another day. And yet, as Edward and I rose, I couldn't help think that the days luster was lost on us as the lark sang their sweet serenade.

In silence we rose from our position and dressed, I folded the blankets neatly in a corner and Edward went out to salvage anything dry we could've possibly forgotten in last nights… thunder.

Who would start? Who would dare begin the thousand-word barrage in our minds?

When a fire was lit and roaring and our food baked over it (though I believed none of us had an appetite to eat it) we sat next to each other, my head resting on his shoulder and our hands entwined, an identical smile playing on both of our faces. We were adrift together in a fathomless dream. Bliss.

"A fair trade, an _equivalent exchange_," said Edward suddenly but softly. "A question for a question. An answer for an answer."

I nodded slowly, silently wondering what possessed him to bring this up. But I agreed, and I touched the back of his hand in a simple but unmistakable gesture. I loved him so much, so much that I would give my life for his would such a case ever have to be faced, and to be honest, it scared me. It scared me that I could ever have such a loyalty to any one but my family.

"Who asks the first question?" I ask logically, pushing the impending fear to the back of my head for now.

Edward planted a kiss on my forehead. "You do, my star."

I blushed, noting the reference to my own story, but then fell into a contemplative state. Unsure of how to put the question I had longed to ask since the night with Envy and Lust, I took in a deep breath.

Touching his prosthetic arm gently, I began to ask timidly, "How-how did you? You couldn't have lost it in the war, that's what Roy said. You aren't old enough to even be alive during that time."

Watching his eyes turn from a loving adoration to a hurtful melancholy state made me immediately regret my question, but before I could take it back, he stopped me. "No, this is something I have to say, especially to you."

My heart did a flip in my throat.

"Alchemy is made up of several complicated rules. But one rule is raised above all else: for something to be created, something of equal value must be exchanged. That is simple math, and because of that, there are few feats placed out of even our reach. One of those things is something that every mortal man would give anything to get: to bring the dead back to life.

"I grew up with my little brother, Alphonse, and my mother in a quiet, out of the way town, and we were happy. But that didn't last. When I was eight (Al, seven), our mother passed away."

Ed paused and I placed a comforting hand on his and squeezed it.

"We were young, but extremely gifted in alchemy. But we didn't know enough, so we got a teacher and trained for two years. We thought we knew enough…

"…But we didn't. For me, it cost me my left leg and right arm…"

He drifted off. I couldn't help it; something was nagging at my mind.

"And Al?"

Edward sighed. "His punishment is far worse than mine."

I bit my lip. "I am so sorry," I said leaning my head against the hollow of his neck, unable to think of anything else to say. I felt his human hand run through my unbound hair.

"It had nothing to do with you, but we did it, and we paid our price."

"But why did you choose to still follow alchemy? Surely everything you went through was punishment enough, why try to fix something that is obviously beyond any talent?"

At this Edward just kissed me and mumbled, "Just think of it as some screwed religion." Before I could protest he kissed me again. "You've had three, now it's my turn."

I nodded, swallowing excess spit, expecting him to ask who I was, who my family was. And I would have to answer him. I would have to trust him. But I could not help but imagine his reaction when he realized my own grandfather is the reason he lives in exile for something he never had part in. Still, I loved him. Surely that counted for something!

Ed was silent for seconds that turned into minutes. For a sound moment I thought I could see the sun climb higher before he asked his questions. It was a stinging blow of two words.

"Why me?"

Refusing to look at me, he let his bangs shield his eyes, angling his body so it forced me to remove my head from his chest. "Why an outlaw? A _human weapon_? Someone who has hurt and even killed so many people that it would kill your heart to know even a third of them, why? When you could have any one, you're beautiful enough, you're smart enough, you'd make any one the perfect wife. Why did you choose me?"

Stunned, stupefied, stone. Whatever word you choose is what I felt. I did not expect this, explaining why it took me so much by surprise. Silence stretched over the almost empty camp, my eyes staring pointedly at the man who wanted to look anywhere but me. Wind ruffled strands of gold hair; birds filled the silence between us.

How could I answer that? What could I possibly say to justify his challenge? Couldn't he tell from the way I kissed him? Touched him? Whispered to him? _Looked at him?_

"You have to answer," Ed said bitterly. His icy tone caused me to flinch. "I will know if you lie to me."

I felt a spark of my old self—rekindled. "Stop it!" I exclaimed, jumping to my feet, anger threading through my very words. "How-how can you even question me like that! How can you even think that after what I—after what I gave you! I have not lied to you in my words or my actions. I chose you willingly, knowing what you are and what you do. I want no other and I will have no other. Can't you see that? Can't you understand?"

Gradually my voice softened until I was almost whispering. Edward had buried his face in hands, half metal and half flesh.

"Ed?" I asked softly, kneeling in front of him and gently moving his hands. _'No wonder he had shielded his eyes from me,'_ I thought as I saw years of tears held back behind his golden orbs. Like entering another world, I saw the scared child whose mother had left him and his brother behind; I saw the Fullmetal's fears. And I wanted to cry with him. But I wouldn't be the first to shed a tear.

"Do you believe me?" I asked, caressing a cheek where the unshed tears would have fallen.

"You have no reason to lie to me. But I did not dare to think… to believe… marry me!" Edward said, his hands enveloping mine. My heart did a violent flip in my ribcage.

"Not—ahem—not one of your more practical suggestions," I said, trying to ignore my vibrating voice.

Edward took a deep breath; his eyes locked mine, determination springing forth from them. And when he spoke, it was clear with control. "I know this is no life for a woman wife, and I am aware that for you to be with—us and not in a palace, but-but I have a house and I am not without resources!"

His amber orbs begged me, and I knew that part of me would've caved in a heartbeat if given a chance. Still… "But-But," I tried to protest.

"I love you." Edward's stubborn character came out in its true colors, and I couldn't help but think how much more that made me love him. But…

"I—I can't!" I said bluntly and quickly, tears threatening to spill. "I must go home to Central. My—my mother is _dying_, you of all people should… And General Soldato, my brother Derrick. They need me—"

That was where I stopped. As soon as this had left my tongue I wished with all of my heart to take it back. With a breaking heart I watched Edward's face change like simply slipping a mask on, his expression was once again the cold and forbidden face I had first met. He was Fullmetal Alchemist again, feared outcast.

"_What did you say?"_

I was speechless while I fumbled for my tongue. "I-I said I must go home… I am needed, my family… Edward, what is it? What's wrong?" My heart hammered in my ears. His golden eyes were cold and emotionless. I feared what I had done.

"General Soldato. That is what you said."

"Y-yes. He is my father. And-and—"

His eyes narrowed, fixated on my frozen face. "And his father? Also General Soldato?"

I didn't say anything and only stared into his eyes which I could make out my frozen reflection in.

"Answer my question."

"Yes." My answer was quiet and sullen, barely a whisper. But I began to regain my strength when I felt my family being threatened. "But what does it matter? My grandfather made a mistake—!"

"That's what you call it?" Ed lashed out angrily. "A mistake! A mistake that cost so many people there lives and loved ones!"

My blood went cold. "But I am not like them Edward!" I tried in vain to protest, to protect the rest of my family.

"Hah!" There was an explosion of scorn again. He got abruptly to his feet, striding towards the cave, leaving me kneeling, silent tears rolling down my cheeks. I was speechless.

"They taught you well didn't they," he said over his shoulder, standing only a few feet away from me. "Those bastards you call family. And your mother, I bet she was the one who taught you how to seduce men."

I felt another spark of anger. "Take that back! You-you—"

He turned toward me and smirked coldly. "You… _what?_"

I felt indignant. _'He's mocking me and everything I love!'_

"You _monster!"_ I screamed, tears of rage replaced tears of grief. Edward through up his hands, the smirk still plastered to his smug face.

"There you have it, ladies and gentlemen," he said to know one, only to mock me and my family still, "Here is your pretty little whore."

Making a rude gesture before making a sharp turn towards the forest he disappeared, leaving me to weep. Weep for everything that I had lost in just moments before the fight.

When he returned I had recovered and stood proud and tall. I had to try… I just had to.

"Edward," I pleaded.

"Hold your tongue you worthless wench! My name nor anyone else you have met here is fit for yours."

He was holding the reigns to a gray mare, gentle. My things were packed in its saddlebags.

A stone in the heart…

That was how it felt…

"She will carry you home safely enough," he said as I stepped up beside her and hitched my left foot in one stirrup and swung my right leg over. I allowed myself a small smirk. Edward looked at me for a moment before continuing. "She knows the way well enough. And don't trouble yourself on returning her. Call it—_payment_ _for services rendered._"

I felt the blood drain from my face. Lifting my hand I bended down a little and struck him hard across the cheek, watching as a red mark stained clear skin. He did not attempt to even avoid the blow when I knew well enough he could. Maybe he just had to make sure he could feel again.

"You'd better go," he said coolly. "Head east until you hit a road, then turn north."

One hand had found its way to my thigh and seemed reluctant to let go. But he did nonetheless.

Edward whispered my name. "Yes?" I whispered back.

"Don't wed Scar. Tell him, if he takes you, I'll kill him." Edward's tone was tinged with hatred; it was a vow.

"But—" I couldn't leave now, not like this. Then he slapped the horse's hindquarters and, being the obedient beast that she was, she headed off at a sharp canter. And before I could form words, even for a small good-bye, he was lost in a world of green…

…And it was too late.

**xXx**

**At this point I would like to thank the following for reviewing for this small but well appreciated story:**

**(XHer Ink StainX)**

**  
(emily-the-elemental)**

**(xChibiNekoChan)**

**(momolovesyou)  
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**(TheFerryman'sDaughter)**

**(PurificationArrow)**

**(EyeoftheTigerKissoftheDragon)**

**And I would like to give a "special" thanks to (Nazi punk) for more things to keep me warm in the winter. ;)**


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